I, Yan Jiefang, will live to 2025 in this courtyard house.

Besides Yan Bugui, Yan Jiefang had already seen his second uncle, Liu Haizhong, peeking out from behind the moon gate connecting the backyard.

Meanwhile, Yi Zhonghai, the Celestial Venerable of Morality, was vaguely standing behind the window of his west wing room, watching the residents in the courtyard, much like a wolf king standing on a hilltop observing his pack.

Yan Bugui, wearing tortoiseshell glasses with his broken leg wrapped in tape, squinted as he walked to the table, placed the enamel mug on it, and then sat down.

Only then did Liu Haizhong, who had been hiding behind the moon gate, slowly emerge with a serious expression and a large pregnant belly.

Place the enamel mug on the table and sit on the other side of the table.

Seeing that his two generals were already in position, Yi Zhonghai left the window, picked up the peanuts, melon seeds, enamel mug, and cardboard box he had prepared beforehand from the table, and then went out of the house.

He walked a few steps to the head seat of the square table and sat down.

When Yan Bugui saw the peanuts and melon seeds placed in the middle of the table, his eyes lit up immediately, and he couldn't help but reach out and grab a handful to slowly crack them open.

Yi Zhonghai didn't react much to the third brother's subtle actions.

Liu Haizhong revealed a hint of disdain: "As expected, you can't make a difference. At such a solemn and respectful time as the hospital's general meeting, you're still shamelessly throwing your weight around for a few petty gains. Small business owners are just small business owners; they're not suitable to be on equal footing with me!"

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Liu Haizhong thought to himself: It's time for me to make my appearance!

He dusted himself off, slowly stood up, his expression very serious, as if he were about to announce some important national event.

"We're having a meeting today, and there's only one topic! So, what is this topic?"

Everyone knows that the Jia family has five members, right?

But only Jia Dongxu has a ration; everyone else has rural household registration and can only afford expensive grain, right?

So the three of us old men discussed it and decided to hold this hospital-wide meeting!

Now, please welcome our most senior gentleman in the institute to preside over this meeting.

After finishing this part of the conversation, Liu Haizhong pulled up the stool behind him and sat down.

Yi Zhonghai looked around at all the residents in the courtyard, and all the neighbors who had been whispering fell silent.

The once slightly noisy courtyard was now so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Yi Zhonghai was very satisfied with his control and authority in the courtyard.

This is the kind of courtyard house he needs.

He nodded and began to explain the situation in a low voice:

"As everyone knows, the Jia family has always been the poorest household in our compound. With so many people to support, Jia Dongxu's salary alone is definitely not enough."

Our courtyard, under the management of several elderly men, has consistently been recognized as a model of civilized living and has received numerous awards from the local street office each year.

As the saying goes, "When one place is in trouble, help comes from all sides." In order to maintain the friendly relations and mutual assistance among neighbors, and to continue to uphold the honor of the civilized courtyard house,

Our neighbors in this courtyard should demonstrate the spirit of good neighborliness. I've decided on behalf of everyone that we should take this opportunity to donate some money to the Jia family to help them through this difficult time.

I'll set an example by donating 20 yuan!

Yi Zhonghai took the cardboard box he had brought earlier out from under the table, then pulled out two large black ten bills, gestured to the neighbors, and put them into the donation box.

Yan Bugui immediately took out his old notebook and steel pen and wrote something down.

I was surprised to see that Yi Zhonghai actually donated 20 yuan this time, more than he had ever done before.

Liu Hai, sitting to the side, was very unhappy.

Why didn't you tell me beforehand that you donated so much?

Liu Haizhong, who usually followed closely behind, hesitated, pondering how much to donate to save face without suffering too much loss.

"Uncle, I'll also donate 20 yuan, please remember that."

When Sha Zhu noticed that Sister Qin was looking at him, he immediately felt a surge of affection and stepped forward to donate.

He even donated all the large sums of money he had on him at once.

Qin Huairu was somewhat pleased to see that the fool had fallen for his trick, but he still immediately stood up and thanked him:

"Zhu Zi, on behalf of the whole family, thank you."

Upon hearing this, Sha Zhu laughed like a complete idiot.

Just as he was about to turn around and return to his seat, he caught sight of Liu Haizhong, who was looking conflicted, and immediately retorted:

"Second Uncle, everyone's watching. You should set an example for everyone. Why don't you do what I and the First Uncle do and donate twenty?"

"This...I..."

There was a slight stutter in his bangs.

Seeing his father's predicament, Liu Guangqi, who had been sitting not far away, immediately stood up.

"Shazhu, our family is large and our expenses are high, so we can't save any money at all. Unlike you, you only have one person to feed and no one to worry about. Your uncle has a high salary and eats very little. How can we compare to your two families?"

He paused for a moment before turning to Liu Haizhong and saying,

"Dad, five yuan is enough for our family, that's no more!"

Hearing that his son had come to his rescue, Liu Hai was overjoyed and immediately took out 5 yuan and put it into the donation box.

"Hmph, you stingy little thing!"

Originally delighted, Jia Zhangshi muttered something under her breath when she heard that Liu Haizhong had only donated 5 yuan.

According to the procedure, it's now the turn of Uncle Yan Bugui's family to donate.

He also consciously took out 5 yuan from his pocket and put it into the donation box, loudly proclaiming:

"Everyone knows about my family's situation, so I won't go into details. Like my second uncle, I'll donate 5 yuan. This is money I've painstakingly saved up."

5 yuan!

All the residents were somewhat taken aback.

This isn't like you, Yan Laoxi!

In the past, let alone a dollar, when did you ever donate more than fifty cents?

This time it's going to increase tenfold?

Everyone stared at Yan Bugui in the very center, wondering if he had taken the wrong medicine.

Several of the leaders donated, but the others were unwilling to take any action.

These days, who isn't struggling financially?

Every time we go to dig for wild vegetables, a large group of people set off together before dawn.

On the contrary, the Jia family, whom Yi Zhonghai mentioned as being in dire straits, had never gone outside the city to dig for wild vegetables.

Moreover, apart from Jia Dongxu, everyone in their family is fair-skinned and chubby.

Especially Jia Zhangshi, who was as fat as a pig.

She wasn't tall, but she definitely weighed dozens of kilograms more than the tall and strong Xu Damao and Shazhu!

Seeing the awkward silence, Yi Zhonghai was very unhappy and gave Sha Zhu a look.

Sha Zhu immediately understood and looked at his nemesis Xu Damao, who was sitting in the crowd.

"Xu Damao, you're a projectionist, your salary isn't low. Even your Uncle Zhu donated 20, why didn't you do anything? As a Beijing native, it's shameful to say that, it's not classy at all."

Xu Damao immediately wanted to stand up and retort, but Xu Fugui next to him held him down.

"Why bother arguing with an idiot!"

After saying something in a low voice, Xu Fugui stood up, walked to the donation box, took out 5 cents, showed it to Yan Bugui, and then put it into the box.

"These are tough times for everyone, so our Xu family will donate 5 cents!"

Upon seeing that he had only donated such a small amount, Yi Zhonghai's expression immediately darkened.

However, Xu Fugui was a man who loved to play dirty tricks, and Yi Zhonghai couldn't do anything about him.

She was thinking about whether there was a way to force him out of the courtyard house.

Once Xu Fugui leaves, Xu Damao, who remains, can be easily manipulated.